SHSU
Update For Week Of Nov. 25

Fall Semester Begins Wrapping
Up

When Sam Houston State University students return from the
Thanksgiving holiday, the 2007 fall semester will be almost
over.

The last class day will be Dec. 6, with Dec. 7 designated
as a study day. Finals are scheduled for Dec. 8-13. Dorms
close at noon on Dec. 14.

Commencement for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences
will be held at 6 p.m. on Dec. 14, with Dec. 15 ceremonies
for the Colleges of Arts and Sciences and Business Administration
at 10 a.m. and Criminal Justice and Education at 2 p.m. All
ceremonies will be in Johnson Coliseum.

Professor To Share Works
On Nov. 29

Scott Kaukonen, assistant professor of English, will introduce
his novel-in-progress, “The Martyrdom of Katie Deeds,”
during a literary reading on Thursday (Nov. 29). The reading
will be held at 6:30 p.m. at Austin Hall.

“The Martyrdom of Katie Deeds,” his current work,
explores the intersection of fundamentalist and evangelical
Christian culture with American consumer culture over the
body and legacy of a dead 16-year-old preacher’s daughter,
according to Kaukonen.

He may also read from his prize-winning collection of short
stories, “Ordination,” a collection of stories
of “men and boys who like to see themselves as worthy
of the titles of father, son, husband, lover, and friend,
but who must fight their own instincts and desires to claim
such honors,” he said.

Published by Ohio State University Press, “Ordination”
is the winner of the Ohio State Prize for Short Fiction.
Kaukonen’s stories and reviews have appeared in Third
Coast, the Chicago Tribune, the Cincinnati Review and the
Missouri Review.

In addition to finishing “The Martyrdom of Katie Deeds,”
he is also currently working with English professor Helena
Halmari on a translation from the Finnish of “Pet Shop
Girls,” a novel by Anja Snellman.

The event is free and open to the public, and refreshments
will be served.

Music Majors To ‘Duel’
With Pianos

Ilonka Rus’ collaborative piano class will “dance”
through a number of romantic, classical and impressionistic
pieces during the “Dueling Piano Extravaganza”
on Saturday (Dec. 1).

The concert will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Recital Hall.

“It is called dueling because there are always two students
playing together at the same time, (either) on one piano with
four hands or on two pianos with one student per piano,”
Rus said.

Among the pieces that will be “dueled” during
the performance are Carl Reinecke’s “Nutcracker
and Mouseking Op.46;” Johannes Brahms’ “Hungarian
Dance” Nos. 11, 13 and 21; John Corigliano’s “Tarantella,”
(a traditional form of southern Italian dance); and Charles
Gounod’s “Waltz” from “Faust.”
The collaborative piano class is comprised of piano, music
therapy or music education majors.

“Only the best business students in the world, and the
professionals who earned the distinction of ‘the best
in business” during their academic careers, can claim
membership in Beta Gamma Sigma,” said Elsie Ameen, BGS
faculty adviser. “The Beta Gamma Sigma inductees from
Sam Houston State have certainly earned that title.”

The international honor society for business students has
a worldwide network of more than 560,000 professionals who
have earned recognition through lifetime membership in Beta
Gamma Sigma.

To be eligible for membership in the organization, students
must rank in the top 10 percent of the baccalaureate and top
20 percent of graduate programs at schools accredited by AACSB
International—the Association to Advance Collegiate
Schools of Business.